Placer County school bus driver shortage worsened by later start time
PLACER COUNTY -- A later start to the school day and not enough bus drivers has put some Placer County families in a bind ahead of the new school year.
The Mid-Placer Public Schools Transportation Agency notified families at the end of June there were not enough school bus drivers to start the year and there would be no bussing for general education students. One of the reasons cited, along with compounded difficulties in hiring and training due to the pandemic, was the later start to the school year.
In years past, buses would be able to pick up and drop off high school students and then do the same for elementary students. However, now that grades K-12 start within the same half hour it is not possible for bus drivers to make multiple trips to different grade levels.
The Mid-Placer Public Schools Transportation Agency wrote: "In 2022-23 the State has mandated that High Schools cannot start before 8:30 AM. virtually all schools will be starting at the same time and additional drivers are needed. Prior to this year, a bus could deliver students to High School and then gather and deliver elementary students. This will not be possible in the new year."
The later start time is part of a California law passed in 2019 that mandates the school day start no earlier than 8 a.m. for middle grades and 8:30 a.m. for high schools.
"It's difficult for a lot of people, especially the 8:30a.m. because a lot of people have to be at work at 8 a.m.," said Suzanne Adams, a Placer County parent.
Parents have turned to Facebook and Nextdoor, social media websites, to setup carpools for their students ahead of the start of the school year.
One parent who called CBS13 looking for answers, said he was told by a county education leader to "find a new job" that would allow him to take his student to school when the year began. As it stands now, without buses, he said he will be late to work everyday.
CBS13 contacted Mid-Placer Public Schools Transportation for comment, beyond the June post about the bus driver shortage on their social media and website, but the was told the CEO was on vacation and voice messages were not returned.
In the same June post, the Mid-Placer Public Schools Transportation Agency outlined some of the recruitment tools they utilized to fill the vacancies. That included Facebook and Craigslist advertisements, a bus with recruitment banners parked at I-80 and Bell Road, and a hire on/retention bonus and a referral bonus. Through the bonuses, the post detailed, five new bus drivers were hired.
However, "personal reasons" caused other drivers to move on, the company was left with the same number of bus drivers over the course of the year.
CBS13 reviewed one of the most common websites for educational job postings, EdJoin, and found that there are more than 1,000 bus driver vacancies posted. Nearly 150 of those vacancies are in counties within a 50-mile radius of Placer County.
A spokesperson for the Placer County Board of Education noted the need for bus drivers is not unique to Placer County, and based on the review of jobs available, bus drivers are a position in-demand in school districts across Northern California.
The Mid-Placer Public Schools Transportation Agency will update bus routes as bus drivers are hired, but the announcement there were no buses available for more than a dozen schools in the county, will continue until those drivers are found.
The transportation agency is a Joint Powers Authority (JPA) That was created by the school districts served, which include Ackerman Charter School, Alta-Dutch Flat School District, Colfax Elementary School District, Loomis Union School District, Placer and Union High School District. Among these districts, there are more than a dozen school sites served.
